Table 3.

Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder vs Children With Typical Development or Developmental Delay

Symptoms	Autism Spectrum Disorder vs Typical Development			Autism Spectrum Disorder vs Developmental Delay
Symptoms	OR (95% CI)	aOR^a (95% CI)	P Value	OR (95% CI)	aOR^a (95% CI)	P Value
Age 6–18 mo
Diarrhea	1.1 (0.9–1.5)	1.2 (0.9–1.5)	.30	1.1 (0.8–1.5)	1.2 (0.9–1.6)	.28
Constipation	2.3 (1.6–3.2)	2.7 (1.9–3.8)	<.001	1.9 (1.3–2.7)	2.0 (1.4–2.8)	<.001
Food allergy/intolerance	1.9 (1.2–2.9)	1.7 (1.1–2.6)	.01	1.6 (1.0–2.4)	1.5 (1.0–2.4)	.06
Any GI symptom^a	1.4 (1.0–1.9)	1.4 (1.1–1.9)	.01	1.3 (1.0–1.7)	1.4 (1.0–1.8)	.04
Age 18–36 mo
Diarrhea	2.7 (1.7–4.2)	2.3 (1.5–3.6)	<.001	2.2 (1.4–3.5)	2.2 (1.4–3.4)	<.01
Constipation	1.4 (1.0–2.0)	1.6 (1.2–2.3)	<.01	1.3 (0.9–1.8)	1.3 (0.9–1.8)	.17
Food allergy/intolerance	2.2 (1.4–3.3)	2.0 (1.3–3.1)	<.01	1.7 (1.1–2.7)	1.7 (1.1–2.6)	.02
Any GI symptom^b	2.0 (1.5–2.7)	2.1 (1.6–2.8)	<.001	1.7 (1.3–2.3)	1.7 (1.3–2.3)	<.001

Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; GI, gastrointestinal; OR, odds ratio.

Adjustment variables include sex, year of birth, maternal educational level, maternal smoking, and breastfeeding

Any GI symptom includes diarrhea, constipation, and food allergy/intolerance.